These articles have detailed the splits in the American Methodist movement from its origin in 1784 through the 1880’s. There was also a British strand of Methodism. When the Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in a newly independent America, the Methodists in Britain remained a Society within the Church of England. After Wesley’s death in 1791, the societies decided to form the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1795, which was independent of the Church of England. As with their American counterparts, there were soon divisions: The Methodist New Connexion broke off in 1797, the Primitive Methodists in 1811, the Bible Christians in 1815, and the United Methodist Free churches in 1857. These breaks were over various doctrinal and organizational issues, especially the authority of the superintendents.

In the late 1800’s there began to be some movement toward healing the divisions throughout the Methodists worldwide. The first ray of hope came from the Ecumenical Methodist Conference, which brought together representatives from most of the various Methodist Churches in England and America to discuss the possibilities of at least talking to one another regularly and maybe even working together in outreach to the world. Such meetings continued sporadically until the formation of the World Methodist Council which meets every 3 years.

There was to be one more split in American Methodism in the 1890’s. In 1891 divisions in the Evangelical Association led to two separate general conferences being held (one in Indianapolis, one in Philadelphia). The issues were the use of the German Language in worship and Church business, the authority of bishops, and conservative versus liberal theology. The division became formalized with the establishment of the United Evangelical Church in 1894.

As of 1900 Methodist membership (that I have been able to find) was as follows:

Methodist Episcopal Church

2,930,000

Methodist Episcopal Church South

1,482,000

Methodist Protestant Church

209,000

African Methodist Episcopal, Zion

536,000

African Methodist Episcopal

688,000

Colored Methodist Episcopal

205,000

Wesleyan Methodist Church

15,000

Congregational Methodist Church

21,000

Evangelical Association

166,000

Union American Methodist Episcopal

16,000

United Brethren

241,000

Wesleyan Methodist (British

450,000

Free Methodist Church

29,000

In the meantime co-operation continued growing. In 1898 the ME and ME South formed committees on Federation which met jointly, hoping to pave the way for a reunion. In 1905 these two churches also published a single hymnal, which was used in both denominations. This was the most formal hymnal since Wesley’s day including a Psalter and a lectionary (a list of bible readings for each Sunday). The ME church was also working on reuniting with the Methodist Protestants. In 1908 the MP’s rejected this proposal, saying they wanted to wait until the Southern church was included as well.

Daily Devotion

Today’s Reflection THE TERM creatures of habit isn’t just a catchy phrase. Its truth is gaining credence in the world of science as well as in our everyday world of observation. As noted, each time we engage a thought, a particular neural pattern deepens. The more frequently a behavior or feeling is repeated, the more […]